


Wanderer

by Lumos2000



Series: Time and Again [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-10 19:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15298569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumos2000/pseuds/Lumos2000
Summary: Joanna has been running from SHIELD for a very long time. Ever since a man witnessed her power. Skip forward many years and she is captured by the agency (shocking, I know). Unfortunately, Loki steals the Tesseract.





	1. Avoiding SHIELD

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own The Avengers. It all belongs to the brilliant Stan Lee who created the Marvel universe. All I own is Joanna and who she is. So please enjoy, like, and comment!

Joanna's been running for a long time. For almost ten years it seems. One day she used her power and was seen. Ever since she was accidentally spotted they've been after. Who are ' _they_ ', you may ask. A government agency called SHIELD. They came after Joanne about two days after she was sighted. Since then she's been on the move. Never sticking in one place for more than one week.

She was almost caught one time and Joanna had to use her power to get herself out of the situation. But she was shot in the process. It took about an hour to get the bullet out of her leg when she was safe. Joanna knew she couldn't go to a hospital, they would look there. So she bandaged herself up and kept going. Sometimes she would run for days on end just so she could have a moments rest and stay a little longer.

Joanna never had any patterns in staying places. Just so they couldn't predict which town she would end up at. It usually takes SHIELD weeks to find her but ever since they upgraded their tech, it now only took them one week. Now she would spend four days resting, one day getting ready to leave and another leaving. That way, by the time they reached where she had stayed she'd be long gone.

But now they were searching cameras to find what she looked like. The last time they met she had her hood up. It was time to change her looks. Joanna does it once every few months just to keep herself hidden. This time she was going back to her original look. Brown hair and grey eyes. She stood about 5'11". Her name changed in every town she was in but she mostly went by Joanna, or Jo for short. She once went by Beth because she got tired of using Joanna/Jo.

One day, her cover was blown. An agent of SHIELD saw Joanna and she booked it. She wasn't sure whether they were there by coincidence or that they were waiting for her, she didn't care. She ran around the the building and straight into the woods resting behind it. The agent could be heard calling for backup as he chased her. Joanna jumped over a fallen tree and onto the leaf covered forest ground. Only this time she wasn't human. She landed on four large paws covered in grey fur.

Her whole body had transformed into that of a wolf. The agent wasn't fazed by it at all, and kept chasing her. With four paws Joanna gained speed and ground. Until the forest floor became rocks and a river appeared in front of her. She abruptly stopped at the water's edge and turned around as the agent could be seen still running after her. So with deep regret Joanna jumped into the freezing, rushing water. She paddled over to the other side, shook off her fur coat to rid herself of the water, and looked back at the agent. He only stood there and Joanna gave him a toothy grin. His reinforcements were about half an hour away.

Jo tilted her head back and howled, running into the forest on her side of the river. She needed to get out of there and fast. Reinforcements would no doubt be here in less than twenty-five minutes. With that thought in mind she sped up. For three days Joanna didn't stop running. Nor did she want to stop until she collapsed from exhaustion. Jo was breathing hard, her heartbeat erratic and stomach growling. She had not eaten since before the agent found her. She had to hunt. Like a wolf, whether she liked it or not.

Joanna slowly and painfully got onto her paws and sniffed around, catching the scent of deer. She followed the trail until it led her to a clearing just outside of the forest. Normally she would be weary of going out in the open as a wolf, and fugitive, but her hunger was more important. Jo's grey eyes scanned the herd and she noticed a small buck wandering away from its mother and slowly towards her. She crouched low and waited for the animal to come closer. She ran towards it, catching the small buck off guard. The herd spooked and ran, the young buck with it.

But Joanna wasn't giving up that easily. She ran after them and onto the field. She was gaining ground as the herd had to run up a hill. The buck was so close. Finally she jumped on it, catching it by the rear. It gave a cry of pain but the herd kept on going. It tried to get up but fell back down. Jo quickly went for the kill. Its cry was silenced and she drug the carcass back to the trees. It was a little ways but she didn't care. After eating the meal, she found a small, abandoned den, and crawled inside it.

Joanna awoke to the sound of birds chirping and squirrels chattering. She sat up and padded out of the small den. It was made underneath the trunk of a fallen tree. Jo yawned and stretched her sore limbs. She was full from the meal last night and was starting to get thirsty. Joanna walked to a small river and drank from it. Lying down in the sunlight she sighed in contentment. Then she noticed something odd. The birds weren't chirping anymore and the squirrels weren't saying anything. Joanna sat up and got to her feet, listening for anything else. But all she could hear was the small river next to her. Cautiously she took a step back and heard the small noise of a twig snapping. That was it. She was off.

Joanna ran along the riverbank, hearing gunshots as she continued. These weren't normal bullets, they were tranquilizer darts. More and more agents ran out of the trees after her, numbering at almost twenty. Despite her legs being tired she pushed on. Then a cliff came into view. Jo skidded to a halt and looked over the edge. It was a long drop. She turned around and saw all of the agents pointing guns at her, all except one. This was the agent that chased her a few days ago. He wore a black suit and black sunglasses. His hair was brown and he seemed to be in his late thirties. The man didn't hold his gun up, instead he stood there.

"My name is agent Phil Coulson, of SHIELD," the man called. "I take it you can understand me?"

Jo growled lowly and took a step back, unknowing of the distance between herself and the cliff. Her ears flattened against her skull and she bared her teeth at the men.

"We came here to take you in," the agent said.

Joanna snarled loudly, causing one of the agents shoot their gun. It hit just before her feet and bounced off of the ground. She yelped in fright and took a few more steps backward, two more steps and she was gone.

The agent hurriedly said, "Don't take anymore steps!"

Joanna just looked behind her and took another step. She wasn't sure if she could survive this, but it was better than being brought into SHIELD, she reasoned. Life on the run, or life in a cell for no reason at all. There was no choice.

"Don't!" Coulson called. "We are going to take you in, unconscious or not. That's your choice to make."

Once again, Joanna looked at the ledge. _Sorry agent, but I'm not going anywhere with you_. Jo turned around and jumped, the agent yelling in protest as she did. But instead of hitting the water like she planned, she landed on a small outcropping of rock. Her body groaned in protest. She stood and looked at the drop she had, and then how far she still had to go. I'm halfway there, she thought. Before she could jump the rest however, the sound of a shot rang off and she felt something pierce her side. With a jolt, Jo lost her footing on the slippery rock and fell the remaining distance to the river below.

The cold water hit her and she almost let out her breath of air. Joanna paddled her way to the surface and gasped, sucking in air greedily with a drunken haze clouding her thoughts. She quickly looked around and swam to the shore, shaking her fur. Suddenly she was underneath a net and pulled to the ground from the weight of it. More agents came out of the trees along with the agent, Coulson, it was. Joanna weakly snarled and lunged, only to get herself tangled more than she already was.

"Stop struggling," Coulson said. "You shouldn't make this harder than it already is."

Another agent pointed a tranquilizer at Joanna and _bang_. It all went black and her head dropped to the ground. Some agents came forward and dragged her body into a black van with the SHIELD logo on it. As they drove off, Coulson contacted the Director.

"Sir, we got her," he said.


	2. I'm Not Dead Yet?

Joanna groaned and opened her eyes, seeing a dark room around her. There was a one way window on one of the walls, and a camera in the corner. She feebly lifted herself onto her paws. Jo was about to walk forward when she was restrained. They put a collar on her! How dare they!

"You won't be going anywhere," said a man.

He stepped out from the shadows. The man wore an eyepatch over his right eye. He was dark skinned and wore a black suit with a leather jacket. It had the SHIELD logo on the shoulder. Something about the man wanted to make Joanna cower away from him but she held her ground. What did he want? She was already chained to a wall.

"We need to talk," said the man.

Joanna could only stare at him. If she was going to be caught in a net, tranquilized and chained to a wall, she was going to make this as difficult as possible. So she stayed quiet. And it wasn't as if she could talk anyway. 1) she was in her wolf form. 2) she was a mute. Joanna couldn't speak even if she wanted to. Sure she could growl, snarl, whine and make sounds, but the one thing she couldn't do, was speak. If someone came up to her in her wolf form and told her to speak, she was sure she'd rip their arms off and leave them for the birds.

"My name's Director Nick Fury. I'm the head of SHIELD," said the eyepatch man, Fury. Joanna only sighed and laid down, uninterested. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you were human."

Joanna glared at him and grabbed the chains in her jaws. If he wanted her human, then she wouldn't be restrained. Fury seemed to understand and motioned for a guard to get the collar off Jo. The guard did so and Joanne stood up again. She shifted back into her human self and stretched. Jo took her brown hair out of her ponytail and looked back at Fury. Her grey eyes watched him intensely. She nodded at him to go on.

"I want to learn more about you."

Like that's going to happen, Jo thought to herself and scoffed. You government facilities and your promises. You say you don't mean any harm and as soon as a person drops their defenses, you straight up experiment with them. Fury must've taken her silence as a refusal to speak.

Fury stood up. "We'll talk later."

With that he left the room. Joanna only stayed in her place and sat down, leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

**********

_"Mommy? Why am_ _I_ _different?" Jo's younger self asked._

_"_ _You're_ _not different,_ _you're_ _just special," her mother said, hugging_ _Joanna._

_Jo was eight at the time. She never knew what was to come. How her difference in the world would change her and make her have to run for her_ _life. Never did she_ _know that she_ _would come home from school and_ _find her_ _mother gone. Forcing Joanna have to live with her forgetful grandmother._

_"Mom?" Jo asked._

_"Yes?" she answered._

_"How about we play a game? You always loved Twister."_

_My mother smiled, "We'll play a game of Twister."_

_It was the day Jo's grandma came over and saw the two tangled up on the Twister board laughing._

**********

Jo's eyes snapped open and they traveled to a figure sitting at a table in the center of the room. It was the agent from earlier. Coulson, was it? She eyed him warily. What do they want now?

"Good evening," said Coulson, smiling. Joanna rolled her eyes and stared at the wall across from her. "I understand that you may not like us-" Coulson began. 

That's the understatement of the year, Jo snorted.

"-but you need to trust us," the man continued.

Jo shook her head. Not going to happen. I will not like you in a box, I will not like you with a fox. I will not like you here or there, I will not like you anywhere. She hummed to herself, obviously liking her rhyme.

"I don't see why not." Coulson gave a small smile. It made Jo raise an eyebrow as he did. He was about to say something else when an alarm went off. "Wait here," he said, and rushed out of the room.

Jo smiled, by then I'll be long gone.

As soon as Coulson had gone Joanna took the bobby pin from her hair and strode over to the door. With a few twists she heard a soft  _click_ , and she was out. Sirens blared and agents rushed about. Each not even noticing the non agent going down the halls. All she could catch as they went by was, 'Tesseract' and 'Fury said'. Although the sirens were deafening against her ears Jo still continued on. She searched around every bend till she finally found the exit. It was almost too easy.

Joanna followed the road leading out, unfazed as cars kept passing her. Gunshots sounded and she immediately transformed into a wolf. Survival instinct you could say. Taking off running, she noticed a black truck gaining on her. Another jeep following it.

She glanced behind herself and noticed that they weren't shooting at her, but at each other! In fact, they didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence. Rumbling and cracking could be heard above her. She looked up as a large rock fell in front of her. Jo jumped over it and the large rock grazed her stomach. The night sky was viewable as she neared the outside. More rocks and boulders fell, one hitting her shoulder, and another, her paw. Suddenly the black truck passed Joanna and out into the night. In the back was a man wearing strange, green and gold clothing. Jo didn't notice that he also seemed to have been carrying a spear type thing. What she also didn't notice was that the man in green and gold _had_ noticed her. And he was very curious as to why there had been a wolf - _of all things_ \- inside a government facility.

Joanna shook her head and continued to run, ground falling beneath her. As soon as she reached the outdoors, Jo jumped as far as she could out of the way of the blast. She shook the dirt off herself. Jo had landed hard on the ground. A loud _pew_ was heard and her gaze snapped to a helicopter falling from the sky. A man jumped from it before the helicopters hit the ground. Just as the truck that had passed her, which she hadn't noticed leave the road, drive back onto it. Where was the jeep?

Jo cursed and she growled. She would have to go back in there. First she looked back at the man who had jumped from the helicopter, he was fine. In fact, she thought it was the Director. She rolled her eyes and looked back to the exit she had come out of. Most of it was blocked off but Jo would bet she could squeeze through. It was tight fit but she managed. So Joanna padded back down into the place she had come. Soon she was next to another wall of boulders. But this was on top of a jeep hood.

Worry flooded through her. What if that person is hurt? Yeah I know. Ten years of escaping them and now I'm helping them. Typical of her. She always just had to be the good citizen. She gave a small sigh and looked for a way around.

"Yes sir," a voice said. It was female.

It came from the other side of the boulders. Wait, she must be talking to someone. Maybe she can get help on her own. Well, maybe I should stay... Joanna shook her head. Fear of the agents and what they may do when they find out that she was gone scared her. Joanna immediately bolted back out of the tunnel. Heroic right? Goes in to save someone but runs back out due to fear.

Jo ran for three and a half days before she finally collapsed from exhaustion. The last sign she saw was, something Falls, South Dakota. The ground beneath her was hard, yet still felt amazing to her sore muscles. Joanna's eyes trailed around and noticed a hen house. Wait a second...The cocking of a gun sounded behind her. Rising to her legs Joanna turned around and faced down the barrel of a gun. A shotgun to be exact. She slowly backed away and before long Jo was running again. Lungs burned like fire and legs tired beyond use. Jo barely made it another fifty miles before she blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Knowing me, there are bound to be inconsistencies within this book. But hey, if you can deal with the small errors, then I will love you forever.
> 
> Next chapter due within the next week.


	3. Jo Is A Free House Elf

A pounding sensation in Jo's head woke her from her deep sleep. Light assaulted her eyes and she closed them instantly. Moments later she opened them again. It appeared to be around one, she concluded, noticing the sun's position in the sky. Joanna couldn't tell how long she'd been in her unconscious state. One of the first things she noticed was that she was human again. That, and she was extremely hungry. Her joints cracked and popped as she stood and stretched, legs feeling weak with the weight of my body. Of course Jo wasn't very heavy but she hadn't stood in days. In fact, to most people she would seem like any other woman. Well fed and looking like she exercised a lot, not that that wasn't the truth. But had Joanna been any other regular human being she was sure she would have dropped dead long ago.

Jo took in her surroundings once more. Of course there was a forest around her. She never did figure out why she liked forests so much. Perhaps it was because it offers shelter away from the world around it. A safe haven or a sanctuary for her to escape.

"I guess I should tell you we put a tracking device on you."

With the sudden voice announcing itself, Jo gasped and spun around. It was agent Coulson again. Joanna could only growl in annoyance and stalk off, the human who she had now become more annoyed with followed. With the tracking device there was no longer any point to run.

"It prevents you from using as much energy as you used to," Coulson explained. Obviously talking about the device. It irked Jo to know SHIELD could control her in any way. "I'll have to bring you in," he said.

Jo rolled her eyes. Why did they send _him_? Just why, she inwardly groaned. Coulson suddenly turned right.

"This way to the car," he called.

Despite the man being her enemy she followed. The two entered a clearing and as he said would be there, a car was waiting. Not small or large in size, it's roof pulled back and covered in a smooth, shining red. Not a bad car, she thought. Although Joanna herself was more interested in black muscle cars, this one may have gotten her top spot on her red car list. The agent followed gaze and smiled a little.

"I call her Lola," he said as they approached.

Why do boys always name their cars using a girls name? Jo shook her head. She'd probably never know. She went to jump in the passenger seat when Coulson stopped her.

"If you're going to be in my car, you should wipe your feet off." Joanna glared at the man. Wipe them on what? "Fine, but paws on the floorboard."

Three hours and a fight over the radio station later they arrived, or so Coulson said. She had no idea where. They were just getting higher from the ground. Of course she was confused till she saw it. A large hovercraft somehow invisible from below, yet here above it was plain and clear as day, a runway for jets. An airborne battleship? People were rushing about in orange directing the jets this way and that. Jo followed agent Coulson into the helicarrier. There were many agents going about most of them casting looks at Coulson and Joanna, but neither one of them paid any mind. The agent opened a room, almost identical to the one she escaped earlier. Of course, Jo groaned.

"This is where you'll be staying," Coulson said. "That is until we're done questioning you."

Good luck with that, Jo thought bitterly. I doubt you'll give me a pen or pencil to write with due to them being 'dangerous' things.

Agent Coulson left the room for Joanna to get used to her new room. It wasn't too much, but it average. There was a bed in the corner, a desk and chair, one dresser and another door that led into her bathroom.

On her desk sat a book labeled ' _SHIELD EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS_ '. Joanna rolled her eyes for what seemed like the upteenth time that day alone. She went to discard the book back onto her desk when she thought about it.

At least it'll give me something to do... With that in her mind, Jo sat on her bed and began reading.

**********

Every day since she had been brought on the helicarrier, she had been questioned but each time the agents could come up with nothing. Wake up, breakfast, questioning, dinner, bed, restart. It went on for weeks. The same damn routine. One day she sensed a change in the giant ship. Something was off, the air surrounding the carrier was tense.

Time progressed slowly for Joanna. Of course, Coulson's comment of 'paws on the floorboard' weeks earlier only made the woman more annoyed at the man. She was a human being and he had the nerve to say that? The man probably found it humorous at the time but had said nothing afterward.

Just as soon as that thought hit Jo's brain the door to her _ever_ so comfortable cell opened and in walked a man, not an agent. He was tall, had black, tousled hair, brown eyes, blue shirt, grey suit and a tie. Although, the most interesting thing she found was that there seemed to be a glowing _thing_ in the center of the man's chest. The man gave a once over of the room and his eyes landed on Joanna. She went to do something, but she didn't know what. Ask who he was? Yeah right, funniest joke in the world.

"Hey, Jarvis? Where am I?"

Joanna could hear a voice on the other end of what she could only guess was a bluetooth reply, _"It seems you are in a holding cell, sir."_

Her head automatically cocked itself to the side, showing her curiosity plain as day. The man came in, leaving the door open, and sat down across from the table she was sat at.

"So," said the man. "What'd you do?" She raised an eyebrow but shook her head, pointing to her throat. "Can't speak?"

She nodded her head to confirm his guess. Joanna watched as the man nodded too, who was obviously contemplating.

He then stood and and went to the door, but before he left he asked, "Coming?"

The dumbfounded expression on Joanna's face must've made her seem stupid. After all, a man comes in, asks two questions, then wants her to follow him somewhere? Call her old fashioned but she found that somewhat suspicious. That and it caught her so off guard she didn't know how to respond.

"Well are you waiting for a party invitation? Let's go." Standing up quickly Jo went to follow the man but he stopped before she could leave the room. "Who exactly are you?" Joanna shrugged her shoulders but didn't reply. Not that she could anyway. "Well fine then. I'm Tony Stark."

Stark? Isn't he one of the most richest and famous men in America? The man who was kidnapped a couple years ago? Didn't his father work on the Manhattan Project? Captain America? Yeah, she knew about that. But only because her father told her about it. He was there, fighting in the war.

Joanna hadn't noticed they were moving again until they walked into a large lab. One other man was there, looking over his work. Purple shirt, slight graying hair, jeans, and glasses coving his brown eyes. The room itself was bigger than her room. It was filled with various science machines that she was sure she would never understand. The man in the purple shirt never looked up from his work until Tony gathered his attention.

"I found a new play thing!" he called out.

Jo felt offended at being called a 'play thing', but dismissed comment. The man in the purple shirt drew his gaze from Tony to Joanna, and awkwardly waved. "Uh, hi."

"That's it? No questions as to where I found her?"

She watched the man in purple sigh. "Hi. Sorry about the not introducing thing. It's just that my work is really important. I'm Bruce Banner," Bruce introduced.

Jo nodded in understanding. Her job was important as well. Before she was found that is. Bruce was obviously waiting for her to reply when Tony snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah I forgot."

Tony strode over to a desk and picked up a pen and notepad. He quickly handed it to Joanna and gave her a thumbs up. Tony then went back to his original spot. Jo gave Tony a thankful look and scribbled her name down on the paper, taking notice of Banner's confusion. She quickly handed him the notepad and Bruce looked over it.

_My name's Joanna Merlyn. Nice to meet you._

Bruce nodded his head and quickly understood. "You can't talk, can you?" Joanna shook her head and looked downcast. Bruce looked to Tony, "Where _did_ you find her."

"In an interrogation room two floors down."

"Why?"

"No idea."

They both look to her but Jo shook her head. She clearly didn't want to say, or write that is, anything down. Before either men could say one thing a man and a woman walked in. The man, taller than both Bruce and Tony, had blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a red, white, and blue uniform. The woman, shorter than the man in the uniform, had short, red hair, green eyes, and was dressed in a form fitting SHIELD outfit.

"Hey guys have you seen-" the man said, cutting himself off and noticing Joanna immediately. "Oh. Found her."

The woman in red went to grab Jo but she dodged the woman and ran behind Tony. Only her head was visible as she peeked around her not very safe or secret hiding place. Tony and Bruce shared confused looks.

"What's all this about?" Tony asked.

"She is an escapee and belongs to SHIELD," said the woman.

"Why?"

"Because she is dangerous and we know nothing about her."

"If you nothing about her then how do you know she's dangerous?" Tony countered.

"She's dangerous _because_ we know nothing about her."

The man in the red, white, and blue was looking towards the woman for answers. Suddenly the door opened and in stepped the man of the hour. Director Fury himself. Joanna's immediate reaction was a low growl that resounded throughout the room. All pairs of eyes set on her. Her eyes had turned a dark orange, almost red, and her lips were pulled back to reveal her canines.

" _That's_ why," Fury said. "Now if you'll excuse us Mr. Stark, we need to question her. As soon as she answers our questions she can go."

"I see. And how cooperative has she been so far?"

"She hasn't. That's why she's still here."

"How long has she been here?"

Fury shrugged, "Couple of weeks. She'll crack eventually."

"I say she won't."

"Oh do tell us Mr. Stark. Tell us why my asset isn't going to end up talking."

"Because she can't talk!" Tony shouted. "You would think that after weeks here you people would figure this out. Did you ever giver her a paper or pen to use?" At Fury's silence Tony continued. "I thought so."

A tense silence fell over the room. That was before the woman broke it.

"So then who are you?" she asked.

Jo looked at Bruce and nodded to the notepad he had. Bruce gave it to her and Joanne gave it to the woman.

"Joanna Merlyn?" Joanna nodded. "I'm Natasha Romanoff."

Natasha handed the notepad back to Jo. Fury went to say something but a rumbling from Joanna's stomach stopped him. She gave a sheepish grin and looked to her shoes, finding them suddenly interesting.

"Get Miss Merlyn some food agent Romanoff, and then an outfit. We'll question her later."

With that, Fury left the room. No one said anything besides Natasha. Now that she wasn't officially classified as a prisoner, Natasha seemed only slightly more welcoming. Slightly. Jo was sure she was still under the, 'don't trust at all but proceed anyway' category.

"Come on."

Joanna followed Natasha from the science lab and to the mess hall. She noticed another man, the blond one in the spangled uniform, following her and Natasha. She turned to look at him but ended up walking backwards and looking at the man who was almost two inches taller than her. The man was looking down at her with curiosity but said nothing of her walking backwards. Jo also noticed that not Tony nor Bruce had decided to come with. It kind of saddened her, since the two were the only ones with any sort of trust with her. However, she noticed she still had the notepad and pen. She'd be okay. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jo has met Tony and Bruce! Yay! Your thoughts?
> 
> Next chapter due within the next week.


	4. Science!

True to Fury's orders Jo was given food and civilian clothes before being returned to Stark and Banner. She was of course watched by Natasha or, as she had learned his name, Steve Rogers. Not much went on inside the lab besides being questioned by one of the two or occasionally Stark. Bruce tended to keep quiet and work on his stuff unless he too had a question, which only happened once. By the end of the day SHIELD knew a lot about her. Name, history, you name it. The only thing they didn't have on her, was how she got her power.

To be honest not even Jo knew, she was fairly certain she was born like this. Of course that didn't stop them from taking a blood sample to look for evidence of experimentation. Nothing had come up, which left Jo with the only option of her being a mutant. Now that she was classified as one, Jo would be under the protection of the X-Men, and SHIELD had no authority to keep her under lock and key without the say-so from Charles Xavier himself. One day Jo would thank Charles for creating such a deal with SHIELD.

Now that Jo wasn't under the watch list, she explored the ship. She came back to the lab with a book in her hands and sat in one of the seats before she began reading. Bruce and Stark paid her no mind so she figured she wasn't in the way. Jo half listened to their ongoing conversation.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process," Bruce mumbled, adjusting something in his work.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops," Tony said.

Jo had no idea what was being said and absently turned the page in her book and focused on what was in front of her instead of around her. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, except at the moment she cursed herself for not paying attention. One moment she was absorbed into her book and the next she was on her ass on the ground staring at Steve Rogers. He had come in snapping at Stark and asking if he was crazy. This of course made Jo startle and slip to the ground.

Jo righted herself and sat on the chair, watching the three men with interest.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark," Steve said.

Tony scoffed. "You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in, why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Tony turned and motioned to Bruce, popping a few blueberries into his mouth.

"Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and..." Bruce babbled.

Steve gave the man a concerned look. "Doctor?"

The was a small silence as Bruce considered his words. "'A warm light for all mankind', Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it."

Bruce pointed at Tony, "Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "The Stark Tower? That big ugly-" Tony gave Steve a look, "-building in New York?"

"It's powered by an Arc Reactor, self- sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. It's what he's getting at."

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."

Jo startled. Tony was hacking into SHIELD's files? How the hell?

"I'm sorry, did you say-" Steve began.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

Tony held out his bag of blueberries. Steve ignored the offer but Jo didn't. She rose from her chair and held out her hand. Tony grinned at her, poured some into her hand, and looked back at Steve. Steve glanced at Jo, who was popping a blueberry into her mouth, but returned to his conversation.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

Before Steve could reply Jo held up her notepad she had been using as communication. Written on it was: ' _Fahrenheit 451, burning of books_ '. Tony nodded appreciatively.

"See? She gets it."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following is not really my style."

Steve gave a wry smile. "And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is; A) wearing a spangly outfit, and B) not of use?"

This must have struck a nerve within Steve because his face became sour.

"Steve," Bruce said. "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

Steve seemed to consider it, but shook off the pairs warnings. "Just find the cube." Steve walked out of the lab.

Jo returned to her seat and continued her book.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice," Tony snarked.

Jo and Bruce shared a snort at Tony's jab.

"The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." Tony pointed at the Arc Reactor in his chest. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different."

Banner tried to read the computer screen, but Tony slid the data aside with his finger so the two could see face-to-face. Bruce of course didn't look like he wanted to. He looked like he wanted to run and hide.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out."

"You might not like that."

"You just might."

With that, both scientists went back to their computers. It only took Tony five minutes to start up another conversation.

"So how about you?" Tony said. Jo looked up from her book. Was he talking to her? "Are you going to suit up with us?" Jo shook her head in the negative. "Why not?"

Jo reached for the notepad and scribbled something before holding it up for Tony to see. _'Can't, I wouldn't be much help. As a wolf I am four feet high tops. What am I going to do? Bite someone's throat before getting shot?'_

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "So you can't do much as a dog, big deal. But how about as a human. Your eyesight is off the charts, almost parallel to Barton's. Your hearing is so good you can hear a heartbeat from eight miles away!" Jo scoffed but nodded. She had experiment with these abilities long ago. Of course with such heightened abilities she had to tone them down a lot. "So what else can you do?"

Even Bruce had paused in his work to stare at Jo, he too had that question. So Jo looked at the pen in her hand. It was almost out of ink. She began to silently weigh it and took note of the room around her, noticing a trash can behind her. Then she chucked the pen into the wall across the room. Tony, Bruce, and Jo watched as the pen bounced off the floor, then the wall, flew through the air, sailed over Jo's head, and landed in the trash bin.

The grin on Tony's face began to grow. "I know what I'm getting you for Christmas."

Then Tony turned and went on with his work and Jo continued with her book. Hours went by and Jo had since migrated from the chair to a small sofa in the corner near the scientists. She had fallen asleep around 2 in the morning, lulled into unconsciousness by the soft hum of the carrier. Neither man noticed she had, until her book slipped from her fingers and created a soft _thud_ on the floor. The two shared a look before Tony dimmed the lights a bit. They continued on with their work and conversed in low voices when needed.

Before long, dawn arrived. Jo sat up bleary eyed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. A small heavy weight on her side made her curious. A jacket was draped over her shoulder. It was dark, and fancy looking, so she had no doubt who gave it to her. Jo sat up even straighter and gained the attention of the two scientists. She gave Tony a curious look and nodded to the jacket. He only shrugged and continued his work. Bruce waved in a good morning fashion before he too turned back to work.

Jo shivered slightly and pulled the jacket fully around her. She slowly started to walk around the room and get her blood pumping to help clear the fog around her mind. Suddenly Fury came waltzing into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like writing little things like this. Your thoughts?


	5. This Is War

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asked.

"Uh... kinda been wondering the same thing about you."

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." This was Bruce. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

Tony continued. "And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." The occupants of the room watched as Stark's monitor lit up to show a collection of secret files. "What is Phase 2?"

Suddenly, Steve dropped a large gun on the table causing Fury, Banner, Jo, and Tony to turn around. Cap was looking pissed.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-" Fury tried to explain but was cut off by Tony.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony moved the computer screen towards Fury. The screen itself showing blueprints for the weapons. "What, were you lying?"

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

Thor and Natasha took that moment to walk into the lab. Natasha kept her eyes right on Bruce. Bruce just stared at her.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked.

Natasha dodged the question and asked one of her own. "You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

Bruce gave a harsh laugh. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

Natasha took small steps forward. "Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

There was a silence as every eye looked to Fury.

"Because of him," the Director pointed at Thor.

Thor, obviously stunned, asked, "Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, _hilariously_ , outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched. Mutants like her-" Fury jabbed a finger at Jo, "-have the X-Men to match them. Otherwise they can't be controlled."

"You think Mutants need to be controlled?" Jo snapped, voice hoarse from years of non-use. The sound of Jo's voice startled the occupants of the science lab into silence.

"Hang on a second I thought you couldn't speak," Tony said.

"I'm a self mute," Jo coughed roughly. "There are many documented cases of people becoming mute after suffering through high periods of stress and panic."

"What happened?" asked Bruce.

"My relatives died, I lived on the streets, I tried to save someone, and then SHIELD found me! They came after me because I was different!"

The noteboard Jo had picked up when Fury had walked in, suddenly snapped like a twig between her hands. Unfortunately this spurred on the argument.

"You see?" Fury said. "Mutants and superhuman beings need control!"

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve snapped.

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor growled.

"A higher form?" Steve said.

Fury ignored Steve. "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony snorted. "'Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in-"

"Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor muttered not so lowly.

Fury once again turned from Tony and Steve. "Excuse me, did _we_ come to _your_ planet and blow stuff up?"

"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" Thor countered.

This time Natasha spoke up. "Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Captain America is a potential threat?" Bruce asked.

"We all are."

As the so-called 'team' argues, they didn't realize that the blue gem on Loki's scepter was glowing brightly. And while no one on the 'team' noticed, Jo did. She noticed that as the argument escalated, the brighter The gem began to glow. The egos of each person in the room kept rubbing off one another and at any moment, shit was going to hit the fan.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor said.

"It's his M.O., isn't it?" Bruce asked. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb."

Bruce was slowly becoming more angry. Almost everyone in the room noticed this.

"You need to step away," Fury tried.

Tony put his arm around Steve. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

Steve pushed Tony's arm off. "You know damn well why! Back off!"

Tony of course decided to take it one step further and went face-to-face with Cap. "Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

Natasha gave a slight nod of her head. Yeah, that was true.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. And I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

Steve smiled and glanced around the room. Bruce, Fury, Natasha, and Thor were all watching closely. Bruce was shifting on his feet. Jo however was watching the two with nervousness and fear, she knew this would end badly. Steve saw the fear and reeled in his anger a bit.

"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Tony, just stood there, unmoving.

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughed at them. "You people are so petty... and tiny."

"Yeah, this is a team," scoffed Bruce.

Tony rubbed his head and Steve backed away from him. Tony looked like he was trying to clear his mind.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-" Fury was once again cut off.

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried!" There was a pause as every mind in the room tried to comprehend what Bruce had said. "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" Banner slowly became upset as he looked at Romanoff, who was unnerved. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Just as Bruce asked those questions, all pairs of eyes shifted between Bruce, and the scepter now in his grasp. Natasha and Fury lowered their hands to grab their guns.

"Doctor Banner," Steve said. "Put down the scepter."

Banner glanced down and looked shocked by the fact that he was indeed, holding the scepter. Suddenly the computer began beeping.

"Got it," Tony said.

Banner put down the scepter and walked over to the computer, Jo following him. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"You've located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"I can get there faster," Tony announced.

"Look, all of us." Steve snorted.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

Tony turned to leave, but Steve stopped him by grabbing his arm. "You're not going alone!"

"You gonna stop me?" Tony slapped away Steve's hand.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

At that moment Banner and Jo, who were looking at the monitor, noticed the location of the Tesseract.

"Oh my god," Bruce mumbled.

Suddenly everything around the room exploded. Everyone is thrown every which way and Jo is thrown into the far wall, knocked unconscious. Steve, Fury, Thor and Tony are thrown across while Natasha and Banner land in the lower equipment room.

**********

The first thing that greeted Jo's now conscious state was a low beeping and a headache that was most certainly from the depths of Hell. _Beep... beep... beep..._ The more she concentrated on the constant beeping the easier it was to get away from the blackness surrounding her. A bright light invaded her eyes as she glimpsed through her lashes. Taking a moment to adjust her eyes as she once again opened them, but this time much more slowly.

Catching the tell-tale insignia on the wall, she realised she was laying in a SHIELD facility hospital room, meaning the constant beeping in the background was her heart monitor. Another glance around the room revealed a man leaned over a small desk in front of him, obviously fixing something. Jo smiled, glad to see the billionaire alive after such an explosion. The smile quickly turned into a grimace as pain erupted throughout her body, mostly centered on her left arm and chest. Her headache or course, had not been forgotten.

"Ow," she mumbled, catching the attention of the man next to her.

"Hey kid," Tony greeted, pausing his work on his helmet to stare at Jo.

"Did anyone get the plate number from that truck?"

"No he got away. Everyone is thinking it was a drunk driver. You died instantly."

"Oh so this is heaven? Damn, and here I was thinking I'd get away from you, Stark. How was my funeral?"

"Horrible. Cap cried, Bruce went green - not all the way, Nat was stone-faced as always, I was drunk with Thor, and I think Fury danced on your grave. We did get to play _'Who Let the Dogs Out',_ though."

"Sounds like every Friday night for you."

"Only every other week. Pepper and I do have dates you know."

"Did Steve fulfill my dying wish of him hula dancing?"

"Oh absolutely! Full on grass skirt and coconut bra."

Jo smiled and shared a laugh with Tony, which only escalated once they glanced at one another and began another bout of laughter. This was the sight that Steve walked in on. A high on drugs woman and a man bent over his small desk shaking with laughter. One look in Steve's direction sent both hurtling into more laughter. Unfortunately the laughter had to be cut off when Jo's chest flared in pain.

"This sucks. What's my poison, Doctor Stark?"

"One fractured left arm, four bruised ribs, and a slight concussion. All in all, you look like crap and you probably feel like it too."

"Well you're no better. Did you fly through a blender while I was out?"

"Absolutely, Cap here can prove it if he remembers in his old age."

"Yeah well, you look like hell."

And he did too. The black eye, tousled hair, and haunted look didn't do him any favors. Tony shrugged nonchalantly. She hated to do it, but she had to ask.

"Who did we lose?" There was a silence in the air as Tony and Steve looked to one another. "Guys, who did we lose?"

"Coulson," Steve said.

"Oh."

And that's all that could be said. Jo never knew the man personally. Well that's not technically true. He did chase after her the entire time she was on the run, and was there after every confrontation. Phil was nice enough to her when she wasn't on literal speaking terms. Their time sometimes spent with Phil talking about his latest mission or assignment. They were acquaintances at best, but that didn't stop a flash of pain to settle in her chest.

"Fury wants to talk to us in half an hour," Steve said.

"Tell Eyepatch I'll be there," Tony replied, his eyes and fingers back to work on his helmet.

"All of us."

Two sets of eyes slid to the occupant on the bed. Jo had to check behind herself to make sure they weren't looking at someone else.

"Why me?"

"Guess we'll have to wait and see."

Just then a SHIELD nurse walked in.

"Oh my!" she gasped. "You're awake! Why didn't anyone page me?"

The woman turned an accusing eye on both men in the room. She obviously wasn't deterred by the fact that Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were these men. Both flushed under her piercing gaze and Jo decided to play the part of the hero.

"It's not their fault, I only just woke up," Jo said.

"I'd better get going," Steve announced.

The nurse nodded her head in approval. "Yes, yes. Family only," she said.

"I don't have a family," Jo whispered to herself, just before Tony got to the door.

Tony looked back at the girl in the bed before looking at the nurse. The nurse in turn looked at Tony and then pointed at the chair and desk he had only just vacated. He got the hint and reclaimed his seat. Jo seemed to relax now that she knew he was here to stay. And that's how it went. The nurse checked her vitals, asked questions, Jo answered all as honestly as possible, and Tony sat in the background tinkering with his helmet. Jo was cleared to be up and about, so long as she didn't strain herself, and was sent along with a sling for her arm and medication for her ribs and concussion.

Tony and Jo made their way to the control room, which looked like it took some damage as well. The tension in the room mixed with the anguish of lost lives. Nick Fury stood at the head of a glass table, eye focused on something in his hands. Steve sat just to the right of the end of the table, Tony occupied the end, and Jo was left to sit on Tony's left. No one seemed too eager to speak.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them," Fury tossed items in the table, each covered in blood. Steve picked up a card. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier.

"There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony suddenly stood and walked off, not wanting to hear any more. Steve and Jo watched, but didn't follow.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

A silence fell, each in their own thoughts.

"Director?" Jo said. "Why am I here? You don't need me and I am no help to you."

Fury turned his eye to Jo. "Coulson didn't seem to think so. In fact, he told me numerous times you would be a great asset once you began to speak. Much like Romanoff."

Jo didn't say more, just simply walked off much like Tony. In fact, she was trying to find him. She never did, but did happen upon the room Agent Romanoff was in.

"Sorry," Jo apologized, and went to close the door.

"Wait," Romanoff said, and Jo did. "How are you doing?"

"I've had worse. So as well as expected I suppose."

"That's not what I asked."

Jo hesitated, but she knew the agent would see through any lie concocted. "Horrible. It doesn't matter anyway."

Her eyes snapped to the man restrained on the bed. He was waking up.

"I should go."

Jo immediately continued on her way out the door, ignoring the look she couldn't identify on the agents face. She did end up running into Tony, only this time it was in a lower level full of equipment to fix things. He was working on his mask again. He was gearing up.

"Did you find him?"

"Stark Tower, we're heading out as soon as I can get this working."

"Need any help?"

"Can you hand me that blowtorch?"

Jo mindlessly handed the item over and backed up a step before a spark caught her. Yet something caught her eye.

"That's wrong," she said.

"What?"

"Those few tiny wires there? They're misplaced, and exposed. If the suit is as damaged inside as it is out, that will mess with things, probably your sight judging by the way it's supposed to connect. Fix that and wrap them in a bit of copper wiring. It'll handle the processing speed better when something is damaged."

Tony had been staring at Jo but looked on the inside and nodded.

"Well I'll be damned. You're smart kid," he said.

A little more work and the mask came online. Tony nodded his head in thanks to Jo before grabbing his helmet and walking away. More than likely to get the rest of his suit. Jo quickly caught up.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Hmm?"

"Kick his ass for me, will you?"

The grin that lit up Tony's face made Jo think that he would indeed, do so. It helped that he nodded. Then they split off as Tony continued on and Jo quickened her steps to the bridge. She made it just in time to watch Tony fly away, a Quinjet hot on his tail.

"They found him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing sarcasm, I really do. How did you handle THAT! I sure hope you didn't see that coming because I sure didn't when I wrote it.
> 
> Love ya'll. Love ya even more if you comment!


	6. The Battle of New York

"They found him. Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. I want eyes on everything," said Fury.

"Yes, sir," said Maria Hill.

It didn't take long to get everything working again. In fact with Jo's help, it sped things along. Screens flashed with footage of New York, the battle was just beginning. Tony was seen flying through the streets, aliens hot on his tail.

"Is there anything I can do, Director?" Jo asked.

Fury turned towards the mutant. "You have a concussion, fractured arm, and some bruised ribs. No offense but I don't think you can help much." Fury paused, a thoughtful look passed over his face. "Until this is over you can look over the footage we have of Loki. See if you can predict what may come next if we fail."

"Sir. The council is on," said Hill.

Jo was led to a computer and given access to the videos. It was strange how a six foot something man with black hair and blue eyes could cause so much destruction. Then again, Coulson did tell her the story of his time in New Mexico and his first meeting with Thor. Apparently Thor had been cast out, and Loki wanted to destroy Thor in a jealous fit of rage. So if one considered Loki's jealousy, heritage, and god complex, it doesn't seem too far fetched for Loki to go to such lengths. Even if it seemed a little petty.

Jo arched her back and sighed. Nothing seemed to stick out that much. Loki was an insane murderer and that was it. A file caught her eye, _'Asgardian Lore'_ was the title. She tried not to peek, she really did, but it was too tempting. There was information on Heimdall, Odin, Frigga, Loki, Thor and a good few other things, but it seemed to center around the royal family. Comparing the lore she had read to the video made Loki's actions seem sensible, to a degree. Thor was the favored golden child while Loki was left in the dust.

He had daddy issues, Jo thought. His big brother was the favorite, his dad sort of neglected him, so yeah, daddy issues.

A report file sat next to the Asgardian one, _'Barton, Clint. Status'._ One quick overview revealed how Barton had gotten over his mind control issue. Natasha had called it Cognitive Recalibration.

"Merlyn! Tell me you have something. I need good news right now."

"Unfortunately not. Aside from the blue eyes and black hair, all I can tell about Loki comes from jealousy and daddy issues."

"Blue eyes? What do you mean blue eyes?"

Jo turned to face the Director. "His eyes are blue."

"Really? Because Thor has known Loki his entire life and his basic description of him in New Mexico said that Loki's eyes are _green._ "

Jo turned back to her computer. "Well in the footage they're blue. Almost as blue as Barton's were when he was under control. So unless Thor needs his eyes checked then Loki is under-" Jo stopped short. "Holy shit."

Fury held a hand to his ear. "Stark, you copy? Stark! He isn't answering. Hill! Get someone down there!"

"I can go." It took her a second before Jo could recognize what she said. "Just get me a regular old jet and I'll be fine."

"There is a nuke on it's way to New York. You sure you can do this?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun."

It most certainly was _not_ going to be fun. She was going to fly a jet, which she hadn't done in a _very_ long time.

"Meet agent Hill on the flight deck, she'll have a bird ready for you." Jo nodded and started off. "Oh and Merlyn? Be careful, I hate paperwork."

Once again Fury's words seemed to have been true. The was a quinjet waiting for her and the moment she climbed in, all her knowledge of flying came right back. Just like riding a bike they say. Hill stepped inside and handed her a small object.

"This is your communication device so we can stay in contact. Try not to lose it," she said.

Then she gave Jo a quick rundown of what did which. Jo thanked her and began the start up sequences the moment Hill was clear, and she was off. Piloting the jet was slightly difficult with a sprained arm, but she made do.

 _"Merlin, you need to head West,"_ the voice of Nick Fury reminded her.

One glance at her compass told her she was in fact, going South. Needless to say her internal navigation was horrible. A quick spin in the air and she was headed in the correct direction.

"Just making sure I remember everything," Jo said.

The island of Manhattan was on the horizon and was quickly getting closer. Yet for an alien invasion the sky seemed to lack aliens and the portal that was just there.

"Fury, where's the portal? What happened?"

_"Stark flew the missile into the portal. It's gone. You need to head to Stark Tower, they have Loki detained."_

As Jo flew over New York she glimpsed at the wreckage below. It was going to take a good minute for people to clean this up. She circled around Stark Tower to find the best landing space. The roof was her best option, as the streets were covered in rubble and bodies. Alien and human alike. The minute she set the quinjet down Jo was out of her seat, down the ramp, and speeding down the stairs within Stark Tower. She counted herself lucky she didn't trip on the way.

Jo found the Avengers on the topmost floor, surrounding Loki. She gave each person a once over. Bruce, who was currently wearing and oversized jacket, looked relatively unharmed. As did Clint and Natasha, though each had a scrape here and there. Steve was covered in dirt and blood, more than likely belonging to aliens. Jo could tell he had wounds, she just wasn't sure where. Thor was next, having a small stab wound in his abdomen. Tony was missing his helmet and sported new bruises and cuts along his face. Each person was off to their own thoughts, obviously wondering what to do with Loki.

"You all look like shit," Jo said, announcing her presence to the room. Few jumped, and Jo suspected Natasha knew she was there the entire time.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Tony asked.

"Normally I would answer that question with a sex joke but right now I just need to point out that none of you, besides maybe Natasha, noticed I was in the room. Despite the fact that I just landed a quinjet on the roof."

"Yeah, well, I just survived an alien invasion. I think I'm entitled to a moment of unobservation. So is Cap, he's old."

"Is that all you got? Seems like you're getting old too, Tony."

"At least I'm not the one with the name the matches an old guy from the medieval times."

"Touché."

Steve rolled his eyes at the banter between Jo and Tony. Loki looked on in interest. Who was this woman, and why was she joking with Stark? For that matter, why was she at the tower? But the questions were gone and deemed unimportant.

"Well I say we load up and take Loki back to the helicarrier," Clint said. "The sooner we get him locked up the better."

"Actually, that's why I'm here," Jo said.

"What?"

"Fury and I noticed an irregularity in Loki. He isn't as guilty as we first thought."

The occupants of the room shared a glance at Loki before looking back at Jo.

"What is that supposed to mean, exactly?" Bruce asked.

Jo turned to Thor. "Thor, what was your description of Loki when SHIELD debriefed you in New Mexico."

Thor shrugged his shoulders, not seeing the importance. "Exactly as he is now. Black hair, green eyes, tendency to wear green and gold. Usually mischievous and an exceptional liar. He's very good with magic."

"Great. Now, Natasha, can you tell me what's wrong with what Thor just said?"

Natasha seemed surprised at being called on, but the emotion was gone so fast Jo was sure she imagined it. The assassin gave Thor's words some thought before turning to Loki and giving him a once over. She went to answer that nothing was wrong when she stopped and stepped closer to the trickster. Natasha narrowed her eyes and Loki shifted, glancing over to the remaining Avengers, meeting each of their gazes. The assassin grabbed his chin and forced the man to look at her.

"His eyes are blue," Natasha said.

Everyone obviously knew the implications of this fact. Thor cried out in outrage while Tony and Clint each let out a string of cuss words. The anger in the room died when Loki stood, eyes shining more blue than any had seen before. A deep laugh rumbled from Loki's throat, one that he shouldn't have even been able to produce.

"So," said Loki, his voice distorted into a deep voice to match the laugh. "You figured it out, little human."

Loki spat at Jo and grinned at the Avengers. He folded his hands behind his back, a grin forcing its was to the surface.

"Who are you?" Thor asked. "What have you done to my brother?"

Loki gave an offended look. "I didn't do anything to your brother!" There was a pause. "That's a lie. I did do something, but not much. You see, I merely toyed with his emotions, made his jealousy grow stronger and his will weaken. It didn't take much. That's all."

Jo scoffed. " _'That's_ _all'_? You toyed with Loki for fun and games until he became your pawn and was useful to you!"

"How do we get him back?" Thor growled.

Another deep laugh came rolling from Loki. Jo shifted uneasily.

"Bring him back? Why you you want him back? You tossed Loki over a ledge!" Loki hissed at Thor. "You can't just _get him back_."

Jo whispered to Thor, "His eyes have been shifting from blue to green. Talk to Loki, keep him distracted."

Thor did so, and Jo quietly slipped her way through the Avengers. "Loki, I know you're in there."

A short came from Loki, "Oh you're going to try? Go on, give it your best shot."

Jo slinked into the shadows, which wasn't easy considering it was day and the room was so open. The voices of Thor and Loki carried on. She need something big, big and heavy. Preferably something she could swing - a reflection caught her eye. Oh that would do just nicely.

"Don't you get it?" Lokie cried. "You can't get him back! He serves me now."

"I don't know why he turned to you, but-"

"You don't know?" There was a maniacs laugh as Loki threw his head back. This would shatter the man. "Tell me, _brother_ ," Loki spat, "what were the first words you ever said about Jotuns? Oh yes. You hunt the monsters down and slay them all. Now what would happen, if your brother found out his heritage as a Jotun?"

The dawning horror on Thor's face was obviously what he had aimed for. This was a treat!

"You're wrong," Thor said. "Loki knows I would never-"

" _Does he_? Does Loki know that you would never hunt him down like you tried with the rest of the Jotuns on Jotunheim? All you wanted was the extinction of their race, which is what got you banished in the first place, wasn't it? Loki never wanted you gone, or the throne of Asgard.

"But see, with you gone, and Odin asleep, the throne was forced on him. And here came little old me, reminding him of your words and the implications, what would happen if you were to come back. Loki here, feared for his life. All because of some words his _big brother_ said. The same _big brother_ that is supposed to protect him. So tell me, Thor. Does Loki know you would never hurt him. Does he truly?"

Through all of this Thor stayed quiet, guilt building within him like a dam holding back water. He took a shuddering breath and looked Loki in the eye. Not the thing that was using him as a mouthpiece. He was looking at his brother.

"I never would have hurt you Loki," Thor said. "I would not have cared for your parentage, nor your race. You are my brother, no matter what you say."

Loki's eyes flashed green and this time, everyone noticed. Unfortunately, so did the entity controlling him. Loki's eyes blurred back into blue and the smirk on his face turned into a scowl.

"You will not have him. You cannot! I will destroy-"

 _Whack!_ The sound echoed through the room and Loki dropped to the floor. All eyes looked to the person responsible for Loki's unconscious form. There, in all her bruised and slouched glory, was Jo wielding Captain America's shield in her right hand. She had picked it up off the floor behind Steve and silently made her way around Loki. Jo listened to the conversation before deciding that enough was enough. So she ramped up all the strength she could, this was a God she was about to hit she needed a lot of force, and Jo struck. It seemed to do the trick quite well.

"What did you do?" Tony asked. He watched as Thor crouched near his brother.

Jo gave a look to Natasha. "Cognitive recalibration."

 _"Merlyn, report. Where is Loki and the others? Why aren't you on your way back yet?"_ Fury's voice called through her comm.

"Sorry sir, but we got sidetracked. Loki, or the guy controlling him, decided that being Chatty Cathy would be a nice role to play. We're headed to the quinjet now."

Jo turned to the Avengers, they heard the whole thing. Thor was carrying Loki, Bruce was up and headed to the door, Clint and Natasha were following him. Steve glanced at his shield and how Jo was leaning on it before following the rest of the team. Tony was exiting a room without his suit and too, followed through with the unspoken order.

Steve waited by the door to make sure everyone was indeed headed to the quinjet and followed everyone out. Jo was lagging behind, her concussion from only hours earlier was coming back full force now that her medication was wearing off. This of course meant her ribs and arm were about to begin aching and yep, there it went. Ouch. Oh look, that rail is blurry.

Jo stumbled and Steve reached out to balance her. Tony noticed and paused, causing a chain reaction through the group. They too all stopped to watch.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" Steve asked.

It was a dumb question considering what she had been through in the past 48 hours.

"No, no, no, I'm fine! Totally fine, no, no, I'm fine," Jo said, swaying ever so slightly.

"Really?" Tony asked. "Because you're repeating your words, you look pale, and you look like you're about to topple over."

"Yeah, you might wanna catch me."

Once again her world went dark and Jo left the conscious world behind in the dust.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure where I was originally going with this story, but now I'm even more confused. Your thoughts?


	7. You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello

Jo honestly had no reason to hate hospitals. She just did. It's like one of those things you don't like, you don't know why, you just do. Simple right? Well right now she hates it because the constant beeping was going to drive her insane.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Either all the hospital rooms look the same or she was in the same room as last time. Same bed too.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to join the living," a voice snarked from her right.

Jo smirked, she would know that voice anywhere.

"Oh is this the living? I think I took a wrong turn. Is it too late to change my mind?"

Tony laughed. "It's good to have you back, kid."

"It's good to be back. Although this headache reminds me of this hangover I once had. Dreadful day."

"Sounds like it."

Jo smiled, she hadn't talked to anyone in years. It was refreshing to do it again, especially after what had been going on throughout her life. As best as she could remember, the last person she had talked to was a friend of hers before she dropped off the map. Distantly she wondered if he had forgotten about her.

"You've been out for days you know."

"Excuse me?"

"The doctors say you somehow exhausted yourself more than you were meant to, and made that fracture in your arm worse when you flew the quinjet. Somehow you managed to acquire more injuries than I did, and I was attacked by aliens and a demigod."

"Just lucky I guess."

Tony hummed in thought, turned his head back to the tablet in his hand, and played with it. She had no idea what he was doing. Then Tony looked up and told her what she had missed.

Due to the fact that Loki was under control as well, his overall punishment was going to be lessened. That didn't mean he was going to get no more than a slap on the wrist. Loki would still be held accountable, but Thor would plead his case to the Allfather to see what he could do. Unfortunately Loki was in a comatose state, or one like it. The guy wouldn't talk to anyone or eat anything. He is going to be brought to Asgard for both his treatment, and his imprisonment.

Thor seemed to think that the mind control may have broken Loki. Jo couldn't help but feel some sense of pity for the gods. Thor had been told that he was to blame for driving Loki away. Loki had been driven to madness by an unknown entity and mind controlled into murdering senselessly and starting an alien invasion. From what she had heard of Thor from Coulson, Jo could guess Thor was blaming himself for the entire thing.

"He's being taken back to Asgard in tomorrow," Tony said. "The Tesseract is going with them both as a means to get there and because Thor said he was going to. No one planned to argue on that front."

"Tony, you are the worst gossip ever."

The voice came from the doorway and both Jo and Tony looked over to the man standing there. He was blond, slightly tall and muscular, and wearing a black shirt and jeans. Grey eyes have a once over of the room before settling on the only occupant on a bed. He gave a wave in greeting.

"Hi. I'm Clint Barton, special assassin. We never actually met."

"Joanna Merlyn, mutant and SHIELD escapee twice over." Clint opened his mouth and Jo quickly narrowed her eyes and gave a glare in warning. "And if you make a wizard joke I will rip your throat out."

Jo knew that she wouldn't even have the chance to get near the man before she found herself on her ass. Clint knew it too, because the grin on his face only grew.

Amusement shone in Clint's eyes. "Okay, no promises though. I hear from Tony that your vision is as good as mine?"

Tony gave a long glance at Jo before saying, "Oh yeah. She's a total wiz, with knives."

Clint shared a high-five with Tony and they both gave identical grins. Jo however, wasn't impressed.

"I swear to God, Tony, I will stab you." This of course didn't stop the billionaire from laughing. Apparently threats shouldn't be taken lightly, not with Jo at least. She huffed and folded her arms as best as she could. "I hate you both."

"No you don't," Tony said.

"You're right, I hate you, not Clint. I only just met him." Clint's laugh of triumph was cut short as Jo continued. "However his reputation is slowly going down the drain right now."

Clint gave a faux hurt look and pressed his hands on his chest. Then he grinned and shrugged at Tony.

"Oh well," he said. "The nurse said that Joanna was cleared to go when she felt like it. She also said that Tony is horrible company and that she hopes such a young person wouldn't be swayed into whatever Tony had planned." Jo and Tony shared a look of horror at what had been implied. "Also, Director Fury wants to see you as soon as you're out of here."

"Well you'd better not keep One-Eye waiting," Tony said, strolling out of the room.

Clint held up a small bag she hadn't noticed earlier. "This has a spare change of clothes for you," he said. Then he too, was out of the room.

Jo smiled and looked at the bag. These guys weren't so bad after all. She dressed quickly, discarding her nightgown into a basket labeled Dirty Clothes. Jo made her way to the observation deck and slowly walked over to the Director.

"Sir?" she asked.

Fury, who had been overseeing the work in front of him, turned.

"Ah, Merlyn, nice of you to join us. Follow me," said the Director, and promptly turned and walked from the bridge. Maria Hill followed closely behind Jo.

They made their way through hallways and into what was presumably Director Fury's office. The man himself sat in the chair behind his desk and stared at Jo. She shifted uncomfortably under the piercing gaze of the man.

"I have an offer to make," he said. He nodded at Hill who held up a small box and gave it to Jo. "This contains everything needed for you to go back to your old life. Now you can either take that box and leave, or you can become a recruit here, at SHIELD."

Jo stared at the Director. She could go back to where she came from, or become an agent of SHIELD. While she could see the benefits of becoming an agent, the traveling, the technology and other things, Jo didn't really see herself becoming a war dog, possibly literally, to a secret agency. However, her old life she had left behind. Her mother and grandmother were gone, she hadn't seen her father since she was ten, and her friends had more than likely forgotten about her. Jo's mind strayed to her only cousin and last living relative. No, she couldn't just barge into his life  announcing herself as not actually dead and live with him until she could leave again. So Jo said this to the Director.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't be able to do that to him," she said.

Fury nodded, eye giving away his calculating look. "Then what do you suppose you should do?"

Jo shrugged, "Start a new life I guess. It'll take time, and resources I don't have, but I may be able to do it."

"We can help with that. After all, we do owe you for uprooting your life and everything else that has happened. You'll have a new identity by the end of the day."

Jo stared at the man in shock. The agency that had been hunting her down most of her life was giving her a chance at a new life. She gave a wide smile.

"And maybe once I'm settled I'll look into doing something here," Jo said. "Not normal agent work, like Barton or Romanoff. I don't do that kind of thing."

"You could become a consultant like Stark," Fury said thoughtfully.

And the deal was struck. SHIELD would issue her an I.D., along with a few other necessities, and after she was done doing whatever she needed to do, she would become a consultant with SHIELD. Overall not a bad deal, though as long as Jo wouldn't be required to do any more tests, she was fine with it.

Jo was shown a room she could use until she left. It was nice, sleeping in an actual bed instead of on the forest floor as a dog. Her good mood was dampened when she woke up as a dog. Obviously sleeping and being one for so long had side effects. She needed to get it under control. Something caught the corner of her eye. An envelope had been slipped under her door while she slept. A note was on top of it.

'Your I.D. is inside along with high school records and a few other things you may need to begin your new life.'

True enough, her I.D. was there. Including the records and a passport if she would need it. She raised an eyebrow at the credit card, and her mouth dropped when she glanced at the sticky note attached. Apparently money wasn't too big of a thing for SHIELD. A knock sounded from her door.

"Come it," Jo called, just before Tony walked in. It didn't seem he wanted to wait for her to answer. She rolled her eyes. "Glad I wasn't in a towel."

"Yeah, me too kid. Come on, we're going to be late."

Tony grabbed Jo's arm and pulled her out the door. She was barely able to grab her envelope and slip it into her jacket, before following the man. It wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter either.

"Late for what and where are we going?"

"To see Thor and Loki off."

Apparently that was all she was going to get from Tony. He was probably off in his own world by now, and with that, Jo slunk back into her own. She was close to a new life, an actual life, Jo smiled. She was so happy, she didn't notice when Tony slipped on his Iron Man suit. Jo did however notice her vision suddenly becoming dark before lighting up in a digital display.

"Tony, please tell me I am not in one of your suits."

"You are not in one of my suits."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Yes, now hold on."

"To what?"

There was silence as if Tony had just realised the flaw in his speech.

"Fair point," he said.

Suddenly the suit she was in took off and the entire flight from the helicarrier to the park was filled with curses from Jo. Some of them may or may not have had to do with a promise to make Tony's death long and painful, but no one would know since Tony turned off his earpiece five seconds in.

The second they landed and Jo was out of the suit she flopped onto her back, not caring about the hard concrete below her, and took a deep calming breath. Seven faces looked down at her curiously, she met each gaze evenly. Then she saw Tony.

"I'm going to kill you!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and rushing towards the man.

It was too bad that Steve caught her by the waist and stopped her in her pursuit of revenge. Or perhaps it was a good thing because damn, he looked better up close.

"I see you're doing just fine then," Clint said.

Jo mumbled a shut up at the man and folded her arms across her chest. Then things blew by quickly. Each said what they needed to Thor, and Jo never talked to the guy, so she wasn't sure what to say. Instead, she stayed quiet. They watched as the demigods left their world, which was kind of cool, Jo had to admit.

And then the group started towards the cars waiting for them, three cars and a motorcycle. Natasha handed Bruce a bag and said some words to him while Clint handed Jo a bag as well.

"See you around," Clint said. "Don't lose any of that sarcasm or that eyesight. I want to see who would win in hand-eye coordination."

"Let's be honest, you would," Jo laughed. "But I'm not totally against the idea."

"Before I forget, Natasha wanted to know how you learned to fly the quinjet."

"I had cousin in the military, not sure which branch. His friend taught me to fly jets, as far as I know he's a Colonel now. With the rundown Hill gave me it wasn't too hard to figure out."

With that Clint returned to his car  along with Natasha, and then they were gone. Jo glanced in the bag and noticed a few more changes of clothes, along with an honest to God, pink, toy wand. Jo snorted in amusement.

"He probably left quickly because he didn't want you to end his life early," Tony said from behind her.

"We both know I'd fail trying."

"Yeah."

Jo shouldered the bag and held her hand out to Tony. "See you around."

Tony took her hand, gave it a quick shake, and turned and left. Jo paused at the unfamiliar weight in her hand and opened it. A set of car keys? She glanced back up at Tony, who winked at her before driving off, Bruce was going with him. And then there were two.

"So," said Steve, "what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Jo said honestly. "I have an idea though, it includes going to a special school I heard of. I need to make sure I have this mutant thing down. What about you?"

"To be honest I don't know either, but I'll figure it out."

"Until next time then."

Jo held her hand out and Steve took it. And then they both went their ways. Jo stepped into the car Tony had loaned her and glanced at the bag sitting in the passenger seat. New life, new beginning, new friends, and a whole new world to explore. Goodbye life of running, hello happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! But don't worry, there may actually be more to come.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all loved it as much as I did!


End file.
